Sometimes, sorting through articles and web sites can get tiring. Here, our lawyers have prepared brief, helpful videos so you can hear their thoughts directly from them. In these clips, Joe and Pat address many of the topics most relevant to your injury claim.

  • All
  • Bicycle Accidents
  • General
  • Mesothelioma
  • Truck Accidents
  • Uber / Lyft Accidents
  • Vaccine Injuries
  • Wrongful Death

What’s The Difference Between A Trial Lawyer And A Settlement Lawyer?

Settlement Attorney vs. Trial Lawyer

Do you want to go to a lawyer that’s what they call a settlement lawyer, or do you want to go to a trial lawyer? Every case that we accept in our office, we intend to try before a jury of your peers or before a judge. The reason being is because we don’t want the insurance company or the other large company that you are against to set the amount of money that you are going to recover. We want you to recover what is fair and reasonable. In my experience, if we can put the case in front of a jury, we can explain to them what your injury is and they will make the decision as to whether your case is worth X or Y.

Typically, the amount the insurance company will set for a settlement case is a lot less than what a jury would award. Now the caliber of lawyer that you hire for this type of case is pivotal. The reason being is that you need to level the playing field between you and the insurance company. We have handled these cases over and over again for decades. We know how the insurance company operates. In fact, I used to work for insurance companies and large companies. Having a lawyer who understands the courtroom and understands the insurance industry is pivotal to you.

What You Should Know About Vaccine Injury Cases

Getting Compensation After a Vaccine Injury

In our country, we have a number of vaccines that all of our children and, in fact, all of us should have. Our doctors recommend them, and our kids are born and throughout their school age, they have vaccinations. For the most part, vaccines are safe; however, vaccines have side effects for a number of people. The government has already set up a program in place that with every vaccination the pharmaceutical companies have to pay a certain amount into a fund. That fund is there, and it is there to make sure that folks who have bad side effects from vaccines are compensated. We have handled these cases before. These are cases where we make sure you are compensated if you have a side effect from a vaccine.

Some people ask, “What is the cost of doing that?” The cost of a vaccine injury case is handled by the government and not by you. So if you do have a side effect from a vaccine it is important that you reach out to a lawyer because there is absolutely no downside to doing so. The lawyer will handle the whole case. The lawyer will handle dealing with a special master. The lawyer will handle the U.S. Court of Claims. The lawyer will handle getting all of the records. We are suited to handle those types of cases. We have been handling those cases and are suited to do that for you.

The prototype type of case for a vaccine case is when somebody is vaccinated and within weeks or months they develop a total out of the blue situation, or they become incapacitated, or they become not their normal selves, or they become paralyzed, or become a total changed person. Those types of cases merit an investigation by a lawyer and by a doctor – a neurologist or someone else – to make sure that you as the parent or loved one can analyze this to make sure that this injury is compensated for. 

What Does A Trial Lawyer Do In A Trucking Crash Case?

Preserving Evidence for Victims of Trucking Crashes

When I meet people in a very traumatic type of case where their loved one has been hit by a truck in a trucking crash, it is a very bad situation. I’m usually meeting them within a week of the trucking crash. It is important that the investigation start right away. Why? Because the insurance company and the trucking company are already way ahead of you (e.g., interviewing witnesses, taking a look at the evidence, and preserving evidence).

The job of a trial lawyer after a trucking crash is to immediately get on this right away – to make sure all evidence is preserved, to make sure all books and logs are preserved, to make sure all witness statements are preserved, to make sure we get good images of the big rig and all of the vehicles so that everything is preserved to protect your interests. The reason being is that when you go to trial against a multibillion dollar company you better have a pretty thick trial bag. That means you better have a lot of evidence to put on, and if you wait and let all of this evidence be destroyed, you are only hurting yourself.

As a trial lawyer, my job is to stand in your shoes and be able to explain your situation to a jury of 12 people. I need to understand exactly how your life has been impacted. The only way that I can do that is by understanding your family, your relationships, your medical situation, how you have been impacted, what your life was like before, what it is like now, and what it is going to be like in the future. All of these things need to be put together and explained to a jury in a simple, concise way. So what we do is, we take the complex and make it simple so that we can express what we need to express to the jury and to the judge. So at the end of the day, you get the compensation that you deserve and you are put back in that place before this tragic event happen.

Meet Trial Lawyer Joe Shannon of Shannon Law Group

Getting to Know Attorney Joe Shannon

I’m one of ten kids. I grew up in a little town called Yakima, Washington. Growing up one of ten kids, I grew up lower on the economic scale, but we grew up rich in love and rich in family. I grew up across the street from a cathedral in Yakima, Washington. I went to St. Paul’s grade school and Carroll High School in Yakima.

I ended up moving to Portland, Oregon, where I ran cross country and track in college. I ended up traveling out to the Midwest to go to Notre Dame for law school. The best part about Notre Dame Law School was that I met my wife there, Michelle.  We have been married since 1990, and we have been blessed with six lovely children: Emma, Clare, Kate, Will, Norah and John.

I went to Notre Dame Law School fully believing that I would be an international lawyer. In fact, I studied in London, England, for a year and learned about international law and comparative law. When I got back to the U.S., I decided that I wanted to be a trial lawyer; I’ve been a trial lawyer since 1988.

For the first eight years of my practice, I represented insurance companies and large companies. I learned from the best. I learned how the system works (how the civil system works). If somebody is injured, they are entitled to compensation. But how much? I learned from the insurance companies about the business side of insurance. How they limit the amount a person recovers and how large companies think.

In 1996, I decided to forge my own path. I decided to represent the little guy. In fact, I wanted to go back from where I came from. It fit my personality better and it fit the way I think a little bit better. I learned that I felt more comfortable in a courtroom walking in sitting next to the person who needed me, not a big large corporation who already had a ton of other lawyers — but one lawyer that represents them and their family and made sure they get justice. 

What Does It Cost to Hire a Lawyer at the Shannon Law Group?

The Cost Of Hiring The Shannon Law Group

Oftentimes I’m asked, “What’s the cost to hire a lawyer who has been doing this for 28 years?” If you asked me that during the first eight years of my practice, I would have told you a number per hour — whether it’s $250 or $350 per hour. But I’ll tell you know (after I have been doing this for over 20 years) that I’ve decided the best way to represent a person is to be a partner with them. The way we do that is a contingency fee. That means if you don’t win, I don’t get paid.

Our first meeting with you and every other meeting with you is a free consultation. Again, if you do not win, we do not get paid. And if you lose, we don’t get paid either. That makes us indebted to each and every case so we can come through for you. Your interest is before ours at all times. When you come in and make an appointment with us, we will evaluate all of your medical records and all of your other documents and make a decision together — you and me — whether or not you have a case. Again, you will not pay me unless you recover.

What a Traumatic Injury Case is Really About

A Personal Injury Lawsuit Is More Than Making A Financial Recovery

Your case is not about recovering lost income; it’s not about recovering medical bills. Because who of us work every single to pay medical bills or just for wages? No. The main part of any case is the loss of your normal life — the loss of your relationship with your family, with your wife, with your kids, and the pain and suffering that you have to go through every single day when you have a traumatic injury like this. Those are the type of things your case is about. It’s not just about recovering medical bills or lost wages. It’s about recovering your life. When somebody injures or permanently damages a breadwinner, they take away that person’s whole economy. 

Handling Complex Truck Accidents

Chicago Illinois Truck Accident Attorney

Meet Joe Shannon, founder and partner at Shannon Law Group. In this video, Joe discusses how he approaches a truck accident cases. 

Help Is A Click Away With Our Legal Website

Welcome to Shannon Law Group

We created this website so that you have answers to your questions. If you are looking at this website, I’m sure you are in a stressful situation. You are in a situation that you don’t think you can control yourself and so you are looking for help. We’ve created a number of documents for you and a book for you. It’s free. We want to make sure that if you are evaluating who is going to represent you and your case – which is a very important decision for you and your family – that you have all the information that you need.

The book is free; it’s a free download. Just fill out the form and we’ll send it to you right away. If you would like to call us, we will send you a free copy. We also publish a newsletter. Every month we have a newsletter that goes out to all of our clients and friends, and we try and address all of the legal issues of the day.We are also available for consultation. If you have a problem and you think you need a lawyer, call us. We will set up a consultation with you. We will sit down with you, and we will let you know whether we think we can come through for you.

Representing Victims of Mesothelioma

Passionate For Victims Of Mesothelioma

Earlier in my career, I represented some companies that were manufacturers of products that use asbestos. In that litigation, I got involved with folks that had what they call mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a horrible, horrible disease. Folks with mesothelioma have a death sentence. The only know reason for mesothelioma is inhalation of asbestos fibers.

I got involved in my first case representing a victim of mesothelioma back in the late 1990s. I got a call from one of my childhood friends, and he told me that his father had been diagnosed with mesothelioma. It was a sad call because I knew from my prior days working for insurance companies that basically his father was going to die from this disease. I flew back home, met with the client, his wife, and his family, and we talked about it. We talked about why he would get this type of disease. He was an auto mechanic, and he had been dealing with brake linings and had been dealing with all sorts of auto parts that had asbestos in them. And in his basement, he had books on all the different types of products he had dealt with over the years. We did a thorough investigation, and found almost all of the products he had dealt with in his career, and we brought the case. We brought the case against all the folks that had manufactured the products. We were able to recover for him and his family, for the mesothelioma. Unfortunately, we were unable to get it done before he passed away.  

Why You Should Hire Us

Why Hire Our Law Firm?

I’m often asked, “What does experience have to do with being a lawyer?” Well, I’ve been doing this for about 30 years, and I’ll tell you that when I’m handling a case I’m using every bit of those years of experience in these cases. A number of things need to be looked at. First of all, we need to look at: What are the goals of the client? Because all we are there to do is to serve you, the client. It isn’t about us; it is never about us. Our firm’s philosophy is serving you the client. We want to make sure you meet your goals, not our goals.

In our experience, we have handled hundreds of cases. We know what type of cases are ones that we can come through for you on. If it’s a case that I cannot come through for you on, I will politely decline to represent you and make sure you get together with another fine lawyer. My job is to make sure that your goals are met — that we meet your expectations and goals, not ours.

Some people ask me, “If you handle my case, is that it? Is it over?” The answer is no. We’ve kept our law firm small for a reason. We want to have a family type atmosphere. I am very blessed to have great employees that work at our firm. They are the best. They are family-oriented, people-oriented, and they are other-oriented. That’s part of what we think about. We want to make sure we come through for you on your case. But when the case is over, we hope that our relationship isn’t over. We want to be your lawyers for life. If you have problems down the road (which we hope you will not), we want you to call us and ask us, “Hey, I have this legal issue. Can you help me with it?” And you know what? If we can’t help you with that, we probably know somebody who can. And that’s our job is to make sure we are not just your lawyers for a transaction, we’re in it for the long haul with you. We want to make sure that you are taken care of the rest of your life. You are part of our family, and we want to take care of you.